Electrical signal.



Patentd Mar. 30, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

[N VEN TOR THE NORRIS P "'ERS CO.. PMOTU-LITHQ. WASHINGTON, D. c.

G. C. MURPHY.

ELECTRICAL SIGNAL.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 4, 1913.

Patented Mar.30,191l5.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR /7l 3 A ltorney J THE NORRIS PETERS CO. PHOTGLITHQ. WASHINGTON. D. r

G. c. MURPHY. ELECTRICAL SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED JANA, 1913.

Patented Mar. 30, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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WITNESSES IN VEN TOR gnw George C Murp y THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHDTO-LITHOH WASHINGTON, D. C

G. 0. MURPHY.

ELECTRICAL SIGNAL. 7

APPLIGATION FILED JANA, 1913.

Patented Mar. 30, 19115.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTOR Geo q C Murphy M m% 6 Allvrney THE NORRIS PETERS 6a., HOTU-LITHQ. WASHINGI'ON. D. C.

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earners raisin GEORGE G. MURPHY, 0F LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

ELECTRICAL SIGNAL.

Application filed January 4, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. MURPHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefierson and State of Kentucky, have invented certam new and useful Improvements in Electric Signals, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to electric slgnal devices to be used upon street cars for signaling a person who alights from the rear of one car so as to apprise said person of the approach of a car upon the adjacent track.

Another object of this invention is the production of a simple and eflicient means whereby the signaling device will be automatically cut off as soon as the cars have passed each other.

With these and other objects in view, this invention consists of certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the drawings :-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the electric circuits showing the relative position of two cars in the act of passing each other. Fig.2 is an end view of two cars showing the manner in which the cars pass each other. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the car provided with the signaling apparatus attachedthereto. Flg. 4 is a partial diagrammatic view of one end of the car showing the manner in which the contact arms may be swung. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective of one of the flappers or contact arms showing the manner in which the circuit is closed thereby. Fig. 6 is a de tail perspective of the casing or housing which supports the flappers or contact bars. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the solenoid used in connection with the present invention for closing the desired electric circuits connected thereto. Fig. 8 is a central vertical section through the solenoid illustrated in Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is an enlarged side elevation partly in section of one of the contact shoes cooperating with the solenoid illustrated in Fig. 7 Fig. 10 is a side view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a detail perspective view of one of the supporting members which supports the contact shoes illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. Fig. 12 is a front view of the circuit breaker. Fig. 13 is a central vertical section therethrough. Fig. 14 is a side elevation of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 30, 1915.

serial no. 740,219.

circuit breaker. Fig. 15 is a longitudinal section of one of the contact shoe supports illustrated in Fig. 11.

By reference to the drawings by numerals, it will be seen that 1 designates the car going toward the right and 2 designates the car going toward the left. It will be seen that each of these cars is provided with a pair of flapper or contact arms 8 having one arm at each end of the carso arranged as to be swung to form the necessary contact when the adjacent contact arms of the opposite cars contact with each other. The rear c0ntact arms of each car are adapted to contact with each other so as to break the circuit and discontinue the sounding of the signal.

The solenoid used in connection with the present invention and also the circuit breaker are preferably placed under the platforms of the cars although, of course, the device may be placed at any desired position upon the car for obtaining the desired result. The solenoid is preferably mounted within the casing 4c and comprises a magnet 5 having a metal core 6. This core is provided with a pair of contact collars 7 formed thereon in spaced relation and is also provided with a pair of collars 8 which are adapted to limit the upward movement of the core 6 relative to the magnet 5. A bracket 9 is carried by the casing and is provided with an insulated aperture 10 through which works the reduced end 11 of the core 6. A plug 12 is carried by the protector shield 13. Binding posts let are formed upon the casing 4 so as to electrically connect the magnet with the source of electrical supply. A plurality of posts 15 are supported within the casing & upon supporting bolts 16 and these posts 15 carry at their outer ends shoes 17. The posts 15 are also provided with laterally extending ends 18 which laterally extending ends are provided with outwardly extending spaced ears 19 between which fit the laterally extending fingers 20 of the shoes 17 A spring 21 is interposed between one of the cars 19 and the laterally extending fingers 20 so as to normally exert an outward pressure upon the shoes 17. This spring 21 also projects under the finger 20 and engages the under face of the shoes 17 as indicated clearly in Fig. 7 so as to add additional outward pressure upon the shoes. Each of the shoes 17 is provided with a curved outer face 22 for facilitating the engagement of the collars 7 of the core or plunger 6 with the shoes as the collars are brought into engagement therewith. It will be seen that these springs 21 will normally hold the shoes in firm con tact with the collars 7.

' A circuit breaker as illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13 is also employed in connection with the present invention, and this circuit breaker is placed within a housing 23 and a magnet 24: is supported within the housing upon a bracket 25. A supporting standard 26 is supported above the magnet 2 1 and this standard 26 supports a contact-member 27 which contact member 27 is connected to the housing 23 by means of a bolt 28. This bolt 28 is electrically connected to the lead wire 29. An armature 30 is pivotally secured to the lower end of the bracket 25 as indicated at'31 and this armature is provided with a flat portion 32 which is adapted to be attracted by the magnetic flux of the magnet 24; when the magnet 24 is energized. A contacting plug 33 is carried by the upper end of the armature 30 and is electrically connected to an electric lead wire 31. When the armature 30 is in its normal position the contact members 33 and 27 will be brought into engagement with each other so as to allow an electric current to pass therethrough. When, however, the magnet 24 is energized, the flat portion 32 will be attracted and cause the contact member 33 of the armature 30 to be thrown out of engagement with the contact member 27. As is illustrated in Fig. 14, the armature is shown in the position which is taken thereby when the magnet 21 is energized.

A casing se is carried by the top and at each end of each car and each of these casings is provided with a positive contact member 35 and a second positive contact member 36. A pivoted circuit closing lever 37 is secured within the housing and is adapted to be thrown into and out of engagement with the contact members 35 and 36 by means of the flapper or contact arm 3. The flappers or contact arm 3 is pivotally connected to the casing 3% by means of a pivot pin 38, and a coil spring 39 is coiled around this pin and secured firmly to the flapper 3 as indicatedat 10. A reinforcing band ll is placed upon the flapper arm 3 so as to reinforce the same for a portion of its length. A contact roller 12 is carried between the bifurcated end 43 of the flapper or contact arm 3 and is adapted to travel in the concave portion 44 of the circuit closing lever 37. It will be seen that as the flapper arm 3 is thrown from side to side, the circuit will be closed through one of the contact members 35 or .36 causing the solenoid 5 to operate in the desired fashion. The casing 34 is preferably supported upon a bracket 34 as illustrated clearly in Fig. 2.

For the purpose of explaining the elecparatus.

trical connections in the present invention, attention is especially invited to Fig. 1 which shows a diagrammatic view of the electric circuits involved in the present ap- By carefully considering Fig. 1, it will be seen that 45 designates the positive feed wire on the car 2 and, of course, the housing fuse 46 is employed thereon. A switch 47 is also employed along the line so that the current may be cut off when so desired. The negative feed wire 48 is placed adjacent the positive feed wire and is directly connected to the circuit closing lever by means of a lead wire 9. The positive wire 15 is directly connected to one of the solenoids 5 by means of a lead wire 50. The solenoid 5 at the front end of the car 2 is directly connected to the circuit closing lever 14: carried by the box 3-1 at the front end of the car by means of a lead wire 51. The contact points 35 and 36 carried by the box 3% placed upon the front of the car are electrically connected to the negative feed wire 18 by means of a lead wire 52. It will, therefore, be seen that as the circuit is closed between the circuit closing lever 4A and one of the contact points 35 or 36, the current will pass from the positive feed wire d5, energize the solenoid 5 of the car 2 through the circuit closing lever 14-, through the lead wire 52, back to the negative feed wire 4-8, making a complete circuit. At the same time the solenoid 5 is energized the core (3 will be drawn inwardly of the coil of the solenoid thereby drawing the disks or collars 7 up in engagement with the shoes 17 placed upon opposite sides of the core. These shoes are arranged in pairs so as to engage the two collars 7 formed upon the core (5. It will be seen that as soon as the core has been drawn inwardly relative to the magnet of the solenoid, the lower shoes 17 will close the circuit through the lower collar 7 and allow the current to pass from the positive feed wire 15 through the lead wire 53, through the lower collar 7, through the lead wire 54: to the bell 55 carried by one end of the car and through the bell and back to the negative lead wire through the lead wire 56. For the purpose of clearness, the shoes 17 just referred to will be termed the bell contact shoes so as to distinguish these shoes from the upper shoes 17 adapted to form a contact with the upper collar 7. These last mentioned shoes which form a contact with the upper collar will be, for the purpose of clearness, termed the circuit breaking shoes.

A lead wire 57 is electrically connected with the lead wire 51 and to one of the circuit breaking shoes 17 and the current will pass through this shoe and through the upper collar 7 to the opposite circuit breaking shoe and from there through the lead wire 29 through the contact points 27 and 33 and back to the negative feed wire 48 through the wire 34. It should be understood that the flappers or contact arms 3 on the front of the car are so arranged as to be swung when the front ends of the two cars pass each other and the flappers or contact members carried by the rear of the cars are placed slightly below the level of the contact arms formed upon the front of the car so as to prevent the contact arms carried by the front of the car from actuating the contact arms carried by the rear of the passing car. It is only desired to actuate the contact arms carried by the rear of the adjacent cars when the rear end of the two cars pass each other and this will, through the means hereinafter described, open the circuit and discontinue the sounding of the signal. Of course, it should'be understood that any desired signal may be used in place of the bell 55 without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It will be seen that as the car 2 continues to travel toward the left and the car 1 travels toward the right, the rear flapper arm or contact arms 3 will engage each other thereby closing the circuit through the contact points 35 and 36 formed in the box 34 carried by the rear of the cars. It will, therefore, be seen that the current will then pass from the positive feed wire 45 down through the lead wire 58, through the magnet 94, and to the contact members 36 or 35 by means of the wire 59. The return will then be made to the. negative wire 48 through the lead wire 49. As the magnet 24 is energized, it will be seen that the contact member 33 will be drawn out of engagement with the contact member 27 thereby breaking the circuit between the lead wires 34 and 29. This will discontinue the ringing of the bell and cause the solenoid plunger to assume its normal position.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that by means of the present device any one alighting from the rear of one car while another car is passing the same upon the opposite track, the signal from such passing car will be suflicient to attract his attention as long as the cars are so passing. By the employment of the present device a great number of accidents will be eliminated owing to the fact that the signal will be given to those alighting from the car so as to warn such persons of the approach of a car upon the adjacent or opposite track. It will be seen that the plunger 6 of the solenoid will return to its normal position as soon as the contact points 37 and 33 are disengaged for the reason that the circuit will be broken through the wires 29 and 34 and through the circuit breaking shoes 17, thereby cutting off the source of electrical supply of the magnet 5 of the solenoid. The plunger 6 will, in the ordinary manner, return to its normal position as soon as the magnet has become de'e'nergized. Of course, it should be understood that the magnet is only energized sufficiently to attract the core 6 of the solenoid when the contact arm 3 is swung and that this arm will return to its normal position thereby cutting off the flow of electric current through the contact members 35 and 36. The source of electrical supply must then be through the wire 57 and circuit closing shoes 17, wire 29, wire 34, and back to the negative terminal or feed wire 48.

What is claimed as new, is

A double-acting signal system for cars passing in opposite directions upon adjoining tracks comprising a signal carried by each car, a primary circuit carried by each car and electrically connected to a source of electrical supply, a circuit closing member carried by the forward end of each car and placed within said primary circuit, a solenoid placed within said primary circuit, a core carried by said solenoid and provided with a plurality of contact means, an auxiliary circuit including said solenoid, a plurality of contact members in said auxiliary circuit adapted to have a circuit closed therethrough by means of one of said contact members of said solenoid, a circuit breaker provided with a plurality of contact points electrically connected within said auxiliary circuit, a signal circuit provided with a plurality of contact points adapted to have a circuit closed therethrough by means of one of said contact members carried by said core, said signal being placed in said signal circuit, a circuit breaking circuit connected to said circuit breaker and adapted to actuate the same for opening said auxiliary circuit, a circuit breaking flapper arm carried by the end of each car and connected to said circuit breaking circuit for closing a circuit through said circuit breaking circuit and circuit breaker for opening said auxiliary circuit and returning said solenoid to its original position and automatically setting the same ready for the next operation, and a manually operated switch for controlling the passage of electrical current to all of said circuits for allowing the electrical current to be manually cut off from said signal system.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE C. MURPHY.

Witnesses:

PEARL MGCOMB, KENDRICK R. LEWIS.

Copies. of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patentt,

Waahington, D. 0. 

